Black Scorpion make my favourite 32mm scale Wild West figures and by far my favourites amongst them are their females. Here I take a look at their Female Gunfighters, all of whom have been sadly withdrawn from their website to be replaced by the Female Gunfighter Faction from last year's
Tombstone Kickstarter. I think this is a crying shame. Why they couldn't sell both is a mystery to me. Anyway, let's take a closer look at these beautifully sculpted figures.
I start with two figures who came in mounted and foot versions. At the left is Missy Scarlet who wears an unfashionable for the time, short buckskin dress and a top hat. She carries a lasso and a 12 Gauge Double-Barrelled Shotgun.
Next up is Barbara Allen, who is much more appropriately dressed in jeans, shirt, duster coat and Stetson hat. She is armed with a .44 Winchester Rifle and a .45 Colt Peacemaker Revolver.
The scantily clad lady at the far left is "Diamond Sue" Dawson and she is the cover girl of the
Tombstone skirmish game rulebook. She was offered as a stretch goal in the Kickstarter launch. This sassy lassie is armed with a 12 Gauge Double-Barrelled Sawn-Off Shotgun and a .44 Colt Army Revolver. She is one of my favourite figures and I'll certainly be making her a Star in my
Six Gun Sound games.
The next two ladies have not been named yet. The one in the centre has a 12 Gauge Double-Barrelled Shotgun slung over her shoulder and a .45 Colt Peacemaker Revolver in a holster on her right hip.
The Gunfighter at the right is carrying two .45 Colt Peacemaker Revolvers by her sides.
In this next batch, none of whom are named. I start at the left with a Native American female who is carrying a .45 Colt Peacemaker Revolver in her left hand. It is unusual to see an armed female Native American but I welcome her wholeheartedly.
The lady next to her appears to be unarmed but I'm betting she has a Derringer Pistol hidden away on her person. To me, she looks more 1920's than 1870's and wouldn't look out of place in a gangster setting.
The lady in the olive green dress wields a .44 Colt Army Pistol in her left hand and looks like she knows how to use it.
Last in line is a young lady with incredibly long blonde hair. She is armed with a pair of .44 Colt Cavalry Revolvers. From the waist up she is perfect for the Old West period but from the waist down, she appears more suited to a contemporary period with her mini-skirt.
This final batch of female gunfighters are not how I'd expect women of the Old West to dress. As modern day cowgirls they'd be perfect with their shorts, miniskirts and crop tops showing acres of cleavage. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love them! I just don't think they're appropriate for the 1870's. Anyway, let's take a closer look at them. Once again, I have yet to name them.
At the far left dressed in a duster coat and skimpy denims, this lady is armed with a .44 Colt Cavalry revolver and .45 Sharps Rifle.
The busty beauty next to her carries a pair of .44 Colt Army revolvers by her sides.
Second from left, this miniskirted blonde is armed with a 12 gauge Double Barrelled Shotgun.
Last in line is a brunette firing a .44 Colt Army Revolver left handed.
Interesting array of figures Bryan and very nicely painted. As you say I question the outfits for the time period, and would be more at home in a modern day wild west theme park that had no interest in accuracy, just what drew the men in ! LOL or even maybe a rodeo show
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly, Dave. Good call on the rodeo show, by the way!
DeleteLovely work Bryan & it is a shame their discontinued as their fab models & not everyone whats or needs their models to be historically correct.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Frank. I do bemoan their loss as they are all great figures, even if some of them are not entirely historical accurate. To be honest, historical accuracy never bothers me - I just want a figure that looks good.
DeleteGreat job! Especially the ladies turned out nice!
ReplyDeleteThank you most kindly, Skully.
DeleteExcellent additions. (plenty to get first in reality, but they are now on the list!)
ReplyDeleteCheers, Clint. I'm delighted to see you're going to get into Wild west gaming.
DeleteGreat brushwork as ever Bryan, and yep, those in the "final batch" line up are definitely dressed 'out of period' but are still good looking sculpts in decent poses - all great additions to your collection :-)
ReplyDeleteGreatly appreciated, Greg. I agree, although some are decidedly anachronistic, they are all beautiful sculpts.
DeleteHi Bryan, I've not looked at their site recently but realised they had started withdrawing figures so I bought a bunch of the ones I wanted before that happened. Sorry to hear that they have withdrawn all the females. Like you I'm not convinced by some of these, but I'm not sure about some of the new ones either. I've always wondered about the two figures holding those great big pistols, why haven't they got somewhere to holster them!
ReplyDeleteAnyway nicely painted and at least you got all the ones you wanted.
Cheers
Hi John. You make some good points, especially about the lack of holsters on a couple of the ladies. I like the new figures a lot but I liked the older ones shown here a lot as well. Surely it would have made good business sense to sell both. More choice is always a good thing in my opinion.
DeleteI bought these quite a while back, so lucky me!
I think you're right about some of these being completely anachronistic for the 1870s! Indeed, I'd go further and say that pretty much all of them are inappropriate for any vaguely "historical" Old West (women gunfighters? Really?). But hey, they're nice models and we can do what we like in our games, can't we :-) ?
ReplyDeleteOn the whole, I do agree with you. Women gunfighters certainly did exist in the real life Wild West. Belle Starr was probably the most famous but there were certainly others of whom I could name quite a few.
DeleteInaccuracies aside these are lovely figures, and superbly painted as we have come to expect. I'm with you as regards "Diamond Sue" she's my favourite of the bunch too!
ReplyDeleteCheers Roger.
Ah, Roger, how good it is to see a man after my own heart. Of course, "Diamond Sue" is the best.
DeleteThey look great mate. Very nicely done.
ReplyDeleteMost kind of you, Simon.
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